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In the kitchen stands Joanna Brooks, an accidental, unofficial and admittedly unauthorized source for all things Mormon. She’s making “funeral potatoes,” a classic Mormon casserole, and heaped on the counter are the ingredients: a not-so-healthy dose of cheese, butter, sour cream, hash browns and chicken soup. Her Jewish husband strolls by, takes a look at what’s cooking, and grimaces. Bespectacled and freckled 6-year-old Rosa, standing atop a chair, proudly announces, “I’m Jewish and Mormon!”

CNN: Iowa Muslim leader: Law enforcement betrayed us
The Muslim community in Des Moines, Iowa, is as small as it is diverse. The members of the four mosques here are from Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, among other nations. Although the roots of the Muslims here may be worlds apart, the community is a tight-knit group. That’s why what happened at their mosques here is alarming to so many of its members.

Jewish Journal: Zionism and the three-picture deal
At the Golden Globe Awards in January, producer Howard Gordon stepped up to the stage to accept the award for Best Television Series — Drama for co-creating the breakout Showtime hit “Homeland.” In a single season, the show has become a sensation, edging the pay-cable channel closer to its rival HBO in number of subscribers and garnering profuse media attention and acclaim.

The Economist: Straight but narrow
One leaflet showed a wooden doll hanging from a noose and suggested burning or stoning homosexuals. “God Abhors You” read another. A third warned gays: “Turn or Burn”. Three Muslim men who handed out the leaflets in the English city of Derby were convicted of hate crimes on January 20th. One of them, Kabir Ahmed, said his Muslim duty was “to give the message”.

I stand with the Catholic bishops and all religious organizations in their strenuous objection to this liberty- and conscience-stifling regulation.

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney wrote this in a Feb. 3 Washington Examiner column titled “President Obama vs. religious liberty.” According to Romney, he would overturn the rule in his first day in office.

Today’s Opinion:

There has long been a division between Catholic clergy and congregants on contraception.

CNN: My Take: ‘Real Catholics’ not opposed to birth control
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Join the conversation…

CNN: The new Christian abolition movement
The truck-stop hooker is no Julia Roberts, the trucker in the cab with her no Richard Gere, and this truck stop off the highway could not be any farther from Beverly Hills, the staging ground for “Pretty Woman.” The trucker and hooker disappear in the back for 10 minutes. Danielle Mitchell watches from the other end of the parking lot and shakes her head.

soundoff(59 Responses)

Charlotte (Canada)

Dear Poet,
I would like to comment on your opinion of schizophrenia. My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in 1997. Through many trials and errors he is now able to live a normal healthy life; married, working, enjoying his passion (music) and medication free. When he was ill there was always a part of him that knew what was going on. He remembers 90-95% of what went on, even when he was going through psychosis episodes. He would tell me that his thoughts were going either to slow of too fast and he had no control over this. I thought I would clarify each individual can experience such severe mental illnesses differently and there is hope for some people to become well.

I have written our family’s story and Daniel’s struggles and victories in conquering this dreadful illness. My hope is to spread the word to families and professionals who are faced with this epidemic of young adults with mental illness.

My new book Sidetracked by Schizophrenia has been endorsed by Dr. Louis Thériault, Director of Psychiatry at Dr. George L. Dumont Hospital in Moncton, Dr. Peter Ford, Pharm D, Owner of Ford Apothecary, Eugene Niles, a mental health advocate and John Lutz, a registered social worker.

My credentials are: my living experience with my son, a Bachelor of Applied Science in Nutrition, a Registered Holistic Allergist and certified Iridologist.

Check out Sidetracked by Schizophrenia at http://www.wellnesshealthworks.com. Hope you enjoy it!

Charlotte

February 7, 2012 at 9:36 am |

Answer

Religious retards still trying to convince themselves of their heaven and god .. ever so hilarious.

February 6, 2012 at 3:25 pm |

RightTurnClyde

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz ...

February 6, 2012 at 1:45 pm |

NRA Captain Billy-Bob

Here's some fat bullets atcha!

D DDDD DDDDD

February 6, 2012 at 12:21 pm |

Common Sense

Is everyone really as dumb as they act on these boards? No wonder this country is goin downhill.

February 6, 2012 at 10:16 am |

John

Unfortunately yes they are, just read the comments and you can see how ignorant these people are. The kicker though is that they think they're extremely smart. Don't bother posting any legitimate arguments and points because people will just post back with more and more ldiotic comments and the ignorance will make your head spin.

February 6, 2012 at 10:24 am |

hippypoet

clearly.

February 6, 2012 at 10:26 am |

Bo

It may be, but if you will notice that most of the posts are made by atheists or agostic people. I did a count one day, just for fun, three to one of the posts are made by an atheist or agnostic person.

Prayer takes people away from actually working on real solutions to their problems.
Prayer wears out your clothes prematurely.
Prayer contributes to global warming through excess CO2 emissions.
Prayer fucks up your knees and your neck and your back.
Prayer reveals how stupid you are to the world.
Prayer exposes your backside to pervert priests.
Prayer prevents you from getting badly needed exercise.
Prayer makes you post really stupid shit.
Prayer makes you hoard cats.
Prayer makes you smell like kitty litter and leads you on to harder drugs.
Prayer wastes time.

February 6, 2012 at 9:54 am |

hippypoet

Schizophrenia – a long term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, innappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into a fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation. Those who suffer from schizophrenia are not aware of the fact they are suffering from faulty perception, innappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into a fantasy and delusion.
Delusion – An idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accecpted as reality.
Reality – the world or the state of things as they actually exist.

What good has the belief in god(s) done anyone? Ever? I think belief in oneself is far more powerful, meaningful, and useful to the lot then belief in anything else no matter how clearly imaginary or factual.

Parents teach morals and ethics not the bible, simple. Those who place misguided ideals into imaginary creatures are ill-equiped to raise kids yet are encouraged to do so.
If the number of christian psych ward patients are on the rise its high time we, those of intellect, should get the fu.ck out of here! Consider those religious sheep an experiment in how not to live. For example – Often used by many christians as an arguement for intolerence towards human rights...I pose that every religiously ran nation like that of Iran and Iraq are exactly what the religious in this supposedly tolerent country wish to turn this country into, where science and logically thought are frowned upon and knowledge of fairy tales are rewarded. Lets not forget that with religion held over fact you get an extreme nation of one sided misinformed citizens. And as in all things there exist extremes, and in society like these they are called fundamentalists. We have our own as well, but because they are ours they are tolerated. They then are shown as an example for our overall tolerance while being intolerant.Where does the hypocrisy end? Are we so sure this isn't a religiously ran nation while upholding laws that preach religious tolerance and separation from state. That would fit the bill for complete hyprocrisy and then at least they are consistant on one thing!

You folks have conveniently forgot that you took part in the slave trade, g@y bashing, witch killings, the inquisition, the crusades – i'm sure i could go on but i think these facts will fall to the wayside and once again be conveniently forgotten. If christianity has taught us anything, its that your god views us as sheep and will use us as such.Luckily for your kind you can sheer a sheep many times, however like a dog, you keep going back for your next beating! Perhaps you folks missed the part in sunday school where they discussed the bibles leaders being shepards...who tend a flock...but its clear that you people have more use to the whole NOT having ideas of your own..(ready for the pun).. god help us if you were ever to have one!

The horrors of mankind are not exclusive to religion. I said they took part in the horrors while preaching tolerence, caring, loving, comp@ssion towards other...you know, all the stuff jesus spoke about...religion is no better then anything but it canbe used however. If religion is properly weilded, i.e. cult leader – the pope, it is much worse then all others for its appeal to the ignorant m@sses is like food to the hungry!

God is an idea. Such an improbable idea that many have, to make the idea inarguable, said that the idea is beyond human comprehension and so by doing remove the need but more importantly the ability to prove and so make it an untouchable notion of truth based on an idea. How is that different from being delusional? You hold fast to an idea of an improbable, incomprehensible, and untouchable nature as if it is fact! Until you have tangible evidence for the existence of god, the notion of god remains in the realm of ideas. And thats a factual statement!

The majority of the world population believes in some god(s) type. What conclusion do you draw from this?
If your conclusion is anything but religion is harmful to the world as a whole, both its population and the planet itself, no matter how it makes you feel inside then i fear you have completely lost your grip on reality

February 6, 2012 at 8:51 am |

Brad

Realists recognize that our grasp on reality, which is something that is independent of us, is imperfect at best. That is because we are fundamentally constrained to a world of perceptions and ideas. You insist that God is part of the world of ideas, but that does not really separate him from the rest of the world we live in, except that you ask for perceivable evidence that God is part of reality. What evidence is there for God's existence? If I say that among God's attributes are the very most fundamental rules that make reality possible, then I can put forward belief in God as a foundational belief grounded in things that most certainly exist. I assert that God is at least a collection of attributes that make reality possible, including being in its most fundamental sense and order sufficient for logic to exist. Have fun.

February 6, 2012 at 9:47 am |

Pointless assertions are fun!

I assert that the invisible, omnipotent, omniscient purple spotted unicorn is at least a collection of attributes that make reality possible, including being in its most fundamental sense and order sufficient for logic to exist. Have fun.

February 6, 2012 at 9:55 am |

hippypoet

brad, very interesting counter argument... but again, if your stating as a basis for your argument that "God is at least a collection of attributes" so what your really saying is the idea of god is really just attributes people view as godly or above the average human? If this is your argument then i am to inform you that if god as a sense and not a tangible object then god is not real. Your beliefs are indeed founded in reality for so are you but what you place your belief in isn't. And you state that yourself. Have fun.

February 6, 2012 at 9:57 am |

hippypoet

and this is a just in case type argument – before you can ask, you being anyone who might ask – “ how did you assign a probability to the idea of God? To God's existence?"

if something is not provable by any known way yet many claim it to be true and use the prove its not real argument one must then pick a word that doesn't state anything but rather provides room for existence while doubting it completely. To use the word impossible means we know its not possible thru tests and we can prove this over again, and like-wise vice versa for the latter.

February 6, 2012 at 10:02 am |

Brad

"The invisible, omnipotent, omniscient purple spotted unicorn" is an acceptable symbol for God. Let's abbreviate it as IOOPSU.

Reality cannot exist without (at least) the rules I mentioned. Do the rules not exist as well? What does it mean for something to exist? I would say that if reality is predicated on something then that thing exists. hippypoet, you are like Thomas in wanting something tangible. Pick something up. Hopefully it is a real thing. Where does its being come from?

February 6, 2012 at 10:27 am |

lunchbreaker

"If I say that among God's attributes are the very most fundamental rules that make reality possible, then..."
"I assert that God is at least a collection of attributes that make reality possible"

You seem to like making assertions. Exactly how are these 2 statements backed up?

February 6, 2012 at 11:11 am |

hippypoet

brad, you said "That is because we are fundamentally constrained to a world of perceptions and ideas" do you understand what this sentence means because it has nothing to do with the notion of god. Ideas and what we precive are totally different. We see, hear, feel, and touch the world as it is, its how we, the individual, precives this information and then from that we create ideas from the information gathered. We have a lack of answers to what we precive and from there have created god as an answer to all unanswerible questions. Then WE added attributes which are just attributes people view as godly or above the average human and ones we wish more had. By placing all things viewed as perfect into one being, claiming that all comes from that one, and then claiming that one is beyond tangible proof is again eqaul to bedtime stories we tell our children! We have created a perfect image knowing that we are not perfect but can if provided with a basic foundation of what perfect is can then @sspire to be or as close to as possible. Asoep also taught things, but he was at least honest about what he was using to teach...fables!

February 6, 2012 at 11:17 am |

Brad

hippypoet – I'm not sure it is worth going into the relationship between ideas and perceptions. I will just say that we are at a remove from reality. Ideas and perceptions (sensory information interpreted and made meaningful in much the same way that ideas are formulated) are all that we have. That is the world we are in. It is synthesized by us. We can only hope that it is a sufficiently accurate representation of reality for us to get by. So, you were stating something rather obvious when you said that God is an idea – everything else is, to us.

My assertion is that God is (at least) something very fundamental: the basis of reality. People can ascribe things to God as they will – filling in the "at least" part. That leads to other arguments and often to the "God of the Gaps" that you described (answering the unanswerable by invoking God), but that doesn't get at what God is or if God can be said to exist. That is a question in ontology that you did not answer: if God, is something that reality is predicated on (getting back to the rules which would be at least a part of the basis of reality), then does God exist?

February 6, 2012 at 12:33 pm |

hippypoet

brad – your going on the basis of "once an idea is had it then its thrown by default into the realm of reality since reality is itself subjected to interpretation via sensory recpectors which only serve to give ideas to form reality" is that correct?

before i can give an answer i need to know if thats what you are claiming?

February 6, 2012 at 12:44 pm |

hippypoet

good argument but i see a lack in limitations in the scope of ideas and therefore reality is limitless – that is not true.
if reality is solely based ideas one has then isn't every insane person completely sane?
if i was to think of say a creature from star wars – the rankor perhaps – does that make it exist in reality?

If you wish to discuss personal realities thats fine, but i am discussing true reality, that which is the way things are...if each one of us sees the same event from a different view point then our understanding of what took place is going to be different and therefore the reality of the event is formed from all view points not just from one of us...and with that there are atheists, religious, and other in the middle people in this world each with there own ideas – are you suggesting that we take a poll to see what the average accepted reality is so we then know what reality truly is?

my reality is god is nothing past an idea locked firmly in the minds of other humans as real and the reality of that is those people are delusional.

February 6, 2012 at 12:56 pm |

FU hippypoet Loser

when will you learn that god is above your loser ideas?
when will you learn that there is only god?
Thru him all things are possible and thats why things are the way they are!
FU Loser!
I don't need to prove anything to you!

February 6, 2012 at 1:09 pm |

hippypoet

oh damn, it does work, look brad – there rankor is here...lol
and heres my pun – (to the rankor) don't let the door hit you on your way out!
go fuk yourself, your the loser...moving on now!

February 6, 2012 at 1:12 pm |

hippypoet

if you seek to insult there in none found in being g@y... you need to try harder at being a child or just grow up – your call.

February 6, 2012 at 1:19 pm |

lunchbreaker

Brad said “Reality cannot exist without (at least) the rules I mentioned.”

Those rules:

among God's attributes are the very most fundamental rules that make reality possible

I assert that God is at least a collection of attributes that make reality possible, including being in its most fundamental sense and order sufficient for logic to exist.

Unless I completely misunderstood, which I have been known to do, your “rules” are nothing more than your own personal assertions, neither of which you have attempted to back up. So my question is WHY “you assert God is (at least) something very fundamental: the basis of reality?"

February 6, 2012 at 2:25 pm |

Logic Fail

"Do the rules not exist as well? What does it mean for something to exist? I would say that if reality is predicated on something then that thing exists."

Then all you've shown is that the rules must exist. No deity is required. You're just asserting that the deity is the creator of the rules but nothing, not logic, reason, or anything other than your imagination, backs that assertion.

February 6, 2012 at 2:32 pm |

WRONG

here is an argument for you
YOUR WRONG!
I know what is real and true
and god is that for me
you can't convice me of anything else
so why are you even here
do you hate god for something
you hate yourself!
let christ be your guide and come back to the light
you can be free forever from this evil
all you need to do is ask...
ask christ if there is room in heaven for you, go on, ask!

February 6, 2012 at 3:20 pm |

wow

"I know what is real and true
and god is that for me
you can't convice me of anything else
so why are you even here
do you hate god for something
you hate yourself!"

herbie, your spelling sucks and you are such a TROLL! By the way you are also a good liar – quick repent!

February 6, 2012 at 3:22 pm |

hippypoet

wow is right... you sir are fuc.ked in the head! i believe my post says it very clearly. if you wish to skip ahead to the part thats the most important – god isn't real. yeah! your an idiot.

February 6, 2012 at 3:39 pm |

Brad

Sorry I can't spend as much time here as I would like, hippypoet. But let's have a go at it again some time: God is (at least) the things that make up the basis of reality. This is not exactly new or heresy. A Jewish friend pointed out that, in Hebrew, the four letters of the Tetragrammaton can be taken to express the possible forms of the verb to be. Exodus 3:14 is a hint of this as well. This points to being as one of the attributes of God – significant enough to be considered a name for God.

February 6, 2012 at 7:17 pm |

The moon is made of green cheese.

Speaking of wrong,...wrong,
it's YOU'RE wrong.
Idiot.

What an amazing argument, the genius of the year award ...
"you're wrong because you"re wrong"...oh, I'm dizzy.

February 6, 2012 at 8:19 pm |

The moon is made of green cheese.

Wrong,
You saying that you are right means NOTHING. Millions of people, for thousands of years said the SAME thing, and stomped their feet even harder, and they were ALL wrong. Get in line.

February 6, 2012 at 8:21 pm |

The moon is made of green cheese.

Brad, even if you are correct about ANY of all that, you still have not even begun to say why YOUR god is THE god. Good luck with that.

February 6, 2012 at 8:23 pm |

Brad

I guess we are about finished with Monday, but how do I know that this god is THE god? There are multiple gods. People make gods out of clay, as we know. God, as usually referred to in the question "Does God exist?" has some all-encompassing properties. If God is put forward as the basis of reality, then I think those properties can exist: Creator, omnipotent, omniscient, even omnibenevolent if we can ever get at a definition for good.

February 7, 2012 at 10:08 am |

Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things

Prayer changes things

February 6, 2012 at 6:52 am |

Ephesians 3:14-20

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

February 6, 2012 at 7:00 am |

Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things

AMEN
May the living God bless you this day

February 6, 2012 at 7:42 am |

Prayer is not healthy for children and other living things

Prayer takes people away from actually working on real solutions to their problems.
Prayer wears out your clothes prematurely.
Prayer contributes to global warming through excess CO2 emissions.
Prayer fucks up your knees and your neck and your back.
Prayer can cause heart attacks, especially among the elderly.
Prayer reveals how stupid you are to the world.
Prayer exposes your backside to pervert priests.
Prayer prevents you from getting badly needed exercise.
Prayer makes you post really stupid shit.
Prayer makes you hoard cats.
Prayer makes you smell like kitty litter and leads you on to harder drugs.
Prayer wastes time.

February 6, 2012 at 9:54 am |

Nope

~~~The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs.~~~~

February 6, 2012 at 10:42 am |

just sayin

don't study studies
studies are misleading
study God

February 6, 2012 at 10:54 am |

YeahRight

"don't study studies
studies are misleading
study God"

Yo moron, you just said studies are prejudiced so studying your God is prejudice. That explains a great deal about you stupid crhistians. Plus you can't counter so you keep making stupid prejudice remarks. LOL!

February 6, 2012 at 10:57 am |

just sayin

God is the God of all
You should study up on that

February 6, 2012 at 11:02 am |

YeahRight

"God is the God of all
You should study up on that"

There is NO proof of that so it's a waste of time as the study proved.

Your bible is not based on facts and even the Smithsonian said it's a religious book and not a historical document.

When you figure out how the scribes added to the bible then you can not claim it as fact. DUH!

Everyone knows the story about Jesus and the woman about to be stoned by the mob. This account is only found in John 7:53-8:12. The mob asked Jesus whether they should stone the woman (the punishment required by the Old Testament) or show her mercy. Jesus doesn’t fall for this trap. Jesus allegedly states, let the one who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her. The crowd dissipates out of shame. That story was not originally in the Gospel of John or in any of the Gospels. It was added by later scribes. The story is not found in the oldest and best manuscripts of the Gospel of John. Nor does its writing style comport with the rest of John. Most serious textual critics state that this story should not be considered part of the Bible.

After Jesus died, Mary Magdalene and two other women came back to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, according to Mark 16:1-2). They were met by a man in a white robe who told them that Jesus had been raised and was no longer there. The women fled and said nothing more to anyone out of fear (16:4-8). Everyone knows the rest of Mark’s Gospel, of course. The problem with the remainder of the story is that none of it was originally in the Gospel of Mark. It was added by a later scribe.

February 6, 2012 at 3:44 pm |

just wondering

Theory duh, prove it

February 6, 2012 at 7:50 pm |

Brad

The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

February 6, 2012 at 6:48 am |

Prayer is not healthy for children and other living things

Prayer takes people away from actually working on real solutions to their problems.
Prayer wears out your clothes prematurely.
Prayer contributes to global warming through excess CO2 emissions.
Prayer fucks up your knees and your neck and your back.
Prayer can cause heart attacks, especially among the elderly.
Prayer reveals how stupid you are to the world.
Prayer prevents you from getting badly needed exercise.
Prayer makes you post really stupid shit.
Prayer makes you hoard cats.
Prayer makes you smell like kitty litter and leads you on to harder drugs.
Prayer wastes time.

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.